apexjay

Am not able to find that crucial half an hr to prepare that AWA!! :-(

KnightDuke, Apologies for the typo! The score is 41 and not 43 and hence 93 %ile. Philosopher, With whatever inputs I have recieved from current student of top-5, I have concluded that this year is not the best time for me to app!! I would still be apping to 2-3 univs just to give it a try but I guess that would (as per predictions) nothing more than dress-rehearsals! And Dude, once a testmagician always a testmagician!:tup: So what are your plans...u apping this yr?

Gagan, Am preparing the AWA you requested. :) Also, my final score sheet is out. V 43 93 Q 51 99 AWA 5.0 Overall: 760 99 !! :grad:

What I mean to say is that my research says that the jobs are niether that high paying nor have the diversity which other top notch B Schools offer.

Thanks dobest. Are you planning to apply this yr?

No... but the firm was started by two professors of Kelloggs' in 1983 and is now a global leader in marketing and sales consulting.

What if I try and get a job in a smaller(Non McKinsey Non BCG) Management Consulting firm, gain a work ex of 1 year or so there and then apply for B schools and paint that picture? Do you see it as a good step or a bad one? Also, do univs consider a yr old GMAT scores with same respect as they look at fresh scores? Thanks for all the help GMATBong!

Thanks GMATBong for the reply. I have a few more doubts.. 1. I thought that Deloitte was better than those blue chips you have mentioned because what I am doing is IT consulting and not core IT..Also, my long term career plan is to be in strategy consulting. Isnt, Deloitte, in this scenario, better than the others.? 2. Isnt my meagre GPA of 3.2 a problem for the top5? 3. As I mentioned, my family financial status is below the average..Is it then safe to take a loan of the order of 50-60 lac Indian Rupees? What is the probability that I might not end up with a job at all to cover those heavy loans? Do the US univs in the top 5 give a loan to a person with an admit without any co-borrower?? Please help!

Hi David, Could you please have a look at my profile and evaluate/suggest? Profile: 1. IIT Bombay grad with 3.2 CGPA 2. 2 plus years of work ex(till date) at Deloitte Consulting's IT consulting office in India 3. GMAT 760 (Verbal 93 %ile Quant 99%ile) 4. Good extracurriculars at campus including managing India's biggest college fest. My doubts 1. Is my Work Ex less for a top 5? Shd I apply this year or not? 2. Would the Deloitte brandname help me in my admission process? 3. Other considerations include the fact that I need to come out of this IT bandwagon and that I belong to a financially average family with inconsequential assets. Shd I go for a 1 year course or a regualr 2 year course in the US?

I know there is a huge aversion for profiles like mine but still...Here it is!:) 1. IIT Bombay grad with 3.2 CGPA 2. 2 plus years of work ex(till date) at Deloitte Consulting's offshore technology arm in India 3. GMAT 760 (Verbal 93 %ile Quant 99%ile) 4. Good extracurriculars at campus including managing India's biggest college fest. My doubts 1. Is my Work Ex less for a top 5? Shd I apply this year or not? 2. Would the Deloitte brandname help me in my admission process? 3. Other considerations include the fact that I need to come out of this IT bandwagon and that I belong to a financially average family with inconsequential assets. Shd I go for a 1 year course or a regualr 2 year course in the US? Could you help this poor and confused soul..? GmatBong? Others??

Btw, I agree with the grid thing mentioned in mbahunt's thread! Make a grid with the options in advance..POE for me was a Godsend!

Those are some encouraging words..!!:) But one fact that is still not known to ya'll is that I have a GPA of 3.2 which I guess is on the lower side as far as the top 5 are concerned. I really dont think that with such a meagre GPA I can manage anything in top 5. Also, is ISB at par with top global univs in terms of compensation and variety of jobs offered? I have heard drastically different things. Also my workex right now stands at 26 months..Isnt it less for top univs abroad?

Preity, I am relatively new to this GMAt scene and the biggest concern I am facing right now is whether I would be able to manage that much money as applicable to the top 10 B schools and if yes, then how risky is it to take such a loan when my total family assets are not even half that required for such an education. Is it possible that I end up not having a job at all and then run the risk of selling my self to recover the amount taken as loans. :( Please people ..help me out...I really dont know how all this works...anybody who could offer any insights..!! PS..I kept that CAT score aside...couldnt convert the 3 IIM calls I managed and didnt find anything alse worth the time. :( Philosopher, I will be really happy helping all you lovely people out...Altho from my forum experience, I atleast know for sure that you are much better as far as verbal goes. Anyways best of luck for your GMAT and as I have said, please buzz me anytime you want and I shall help you out in every possible way.

So here it is. I know some people will find my preparation pretty awkward but it suited me best. I'll start with my background. I am an IIT grad and have appeared for CAT once earlier with a 99.73 percentile. Math was never an issue for me. The only roadblock for me was verbal. Even in verbal, CRs were kinda fun and SCs are pretty doable, given some basic preparation from Kaplan,OG and Princeton (I just used these three). I would take this opportunity to thank all you wonderful members of this forum ...your inputs and this forum were critical to my performance. So in my one and a half month long preparation, my focus was only verbal. I gave 2 hours daily to GMAT verbal and my prep was restricted to: 1. Kaplan, OG and Princeton 2. 1000 SC 3. Testmagic SC forum I found these more than enough. The comp based tests I gave were 1. Princeton: 720, 740, 760 2. OG: 710(before staring the prep), 780 3. Kaplan: 670(Realy demoralising tests...I just gave the first) :rolleyes: The sectional tests are good though, really help you develop your speed The one key funda I'd like to share is ...Do not think of GMAT as a test. I always thought of it as a fun exercise. (Math, CR and SCs are fun indeed...I wont comment on RCs though :doh:). Try one practice test with this frame of mind and you'll understand the difference. Dont let GMAT conquer your mind. On my G-Day, I went to the test center with the mindset that it is indeed fun and my target is 800 today. It worked for me, not exactly though. Since my prep wasnt that intensive, I really dont have much to share. This is all I did. Would love to answer any further queries..!!

Aaragorn, OG is more than enough for GMAT Math given some prior intense efforts in math during your engineering. Frankly speaking, my efforts in math were limited to those 75*5 minutes during the 5 computer based tests I took. I might be able to give more inputs if you could explain your ease and experience with math in general. As far as the ratings are concerned, if you rate CAT(Common Admissions Test for IIMs) at 10, GMAT Math should be something near 2-3.